Spreader control mechanism



Oct. 4, 1966 J. RAWSON SPREADER CONTROL MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1964 Ja W ' Oct. 4, 1966 J. L. RAWSON 3,276,779

SPREADER CONTROL MECHANISM Filed May 4, 1964 a r N,

6'. j g f k I I N mO/wk 12%?- a J K34 Z V United States Patent 3,276,779 SPREADER CONTROL MECHANISM James L. Rawson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assignor to Highway Equipment Company, Cedar. Rapids, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed May 4, 1964, Ser. No. 364,746 4 Claims. (Cl. 275-2) This invention relates to a spreader gate control and, more particularly, to a mechanism for selectively operating a plurality of gates positioned at the bottom of a hopper for chips, gravel, etc.

Particularly in the construction of roads it is desirable to lay down fine chips, and in some cases stones as big as one and one half inches in diameter. For this purpose there have been provided self propelled chip spreading machines. Such machines may pull a supply truck as the source of material being spread and are equipped with a conveyor for transporting the chips to a hopper positioned on the front of the machine.

Such machines, to be efi'iciently used by county and state road bureaus and the like, must be versatile-not only being able to regulate the amount of material passing out the bottom of the hopper, but also the width of the pattern being laid down. For this purpose, the hopper bottom is usually equipped with a plurality of horizontally aligned gates. These gates are adapted to be opened in varying amounts to regulate the depth of the spread material. Additionally, it is being possible in prior art machines to selectively disengage some of the gates from the control mechanism so as to narrow the pattern of spread material. However, the changeover has been onerous, requiring a special attention to latches, pins, etc. This is avoided in the instant invention where a unique and easily operated looking arrangement is employed to convert various of the gates from a controlled condition to a closed condition, and vice versa. The provision of such an advantageous mechanism constitutes an important object of the invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel control mechanism for a gate-equipped spreader wherein the gates are adapted to be placed in one of two positions merely by moving the handle portions of a leverlike linkage.

Other objects and advantages of the invention may be seen in the details of construction and operation set down in this specification.

The invention is explained in conjunction with an illustrated embodiment in the accompanying drawing, in which- FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary elevational view, partially in section, of a hopper equipped with the inventive gate control mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view such as would be seen along the sight line 2-2 applied to FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view, partially in section, of the upper portion of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 but with the control knobs in a different operative position;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary prospective view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view, in fragmentary form, of one of the operating control knobs shown in the preceding views;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view, in fragmentary form, of one of the controls of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional 'view such as would be seen along the sight lines 7-7 applied to FIGURE 4 and which is positioned relative to FIGURE 6 so as to bring out certain novel features of the invention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the numeral 10 designates generally a hopper which is adapted to be mounted of a self propelled machine (not shown) for the purpose of spreading chips, stones, etc. The hopper 10 is defined by a front wall 11 and a rear wall 12 arranged to provide a bottom opening or mouth 13. The end walls 14 provide bearings (not shown) for a feed roll 15 which serves to expel the spread material at a controlled rate. Operating in conjunction with the feed rool 15 are a plurality of L- shaped gates 16 which are seen to be pivotally mounted as at 17 on the front wall 11. For this purpose, the front wall 11 carries a bracket 18 which acts as a journal for the shaft 17-this constituting the pivotal mounting of the gates 16. In FIGURE 1, the solid line showing of the gates 16 reflects the closed position whereby chips are confined within the hopper 10. The dotted line condition of the gate 16 is designated by the numeral 16 represents the maximum open position of the gate 16.

For the purpose of moving each gate 16 between the open and closed positions, each gate 16 is equipped with a tie-rod 19 operably associated with a main control lever 20. The control lever 20 is seen to be pivotally coupled to a connecting rod21 which extends rearwardly and over the hopper 10 so as to be operated by the machine operator (not shown).

In operation, the main control lever 20 is moved in the direction of the operator, i.e., in the direction of the arrow 22, in order to open the gates 16. For this purpose, the connecting rod 21 is mounted for reciprocatable movement. Reciprocation of the rod 21 results in arcuate movement of the main control shaft 23. The main control shaft 23 can :be readily seen in FIGURE 4 Where the shaft is journaled in eccentric bearings 23a. The eccentric bearings 24 (see FIGURE 3) have an outer race 25 which is rigidly fixed to C-shaped brackets 26 bolted to the front wall 11 of the hopper 10 as at 27. Secured at spaced points longitudinally of the main control shaft are lever assemblies generally designated 28 (so designated only in FIGURE 4). Each lever assembly 28 includes a collar portion 29 and a pivot linkage 30, the pivot linkage 30 interconnecting the collar 29 and the tierod 19.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that as the connecting rod 21 is pulled to the left, the L-shaped main control lever 20 moves the control shaft 23 downwardly along the arrow designated 31 in FIG. 1. This then results in pulling the tie-rod 19 upwardly as in the direction of the arrow 32 in FIG. 1.

Pushing the connecting rod 21 forwardly, i.e., in the direction opposite the arrow 22, results in upward rotation of the control shaft 23 and therefore downward movement of the tie-rod 19, so as to close the gate 16. This would be a change from the position designated 16' to the position designated 16.

The instant arrangement is particularly effective when there is to be a selective opening or closing of the various gates 16. The gates 16 are arranged in side-by-side, horizontally aligned relation, as can be appreciated from a consideration of FIG. 4. All gates 16 need not be of the same width-for example, at the center of the machine, a gate is foreshortened to permit the installation of a blank portion as at 33 accommodating a support 34 for the front wall 11.

Each gate 16, however, is equipped with its own tierod 19 which is fastened to a lug 35 (see FIG. 2) fixed to the gate 16. The wall 36 of the gate 16 which is equipped with the lug 35 is also equipped with a generally oval aperture as at 37 accommodating the mounting of the tie-rod 19. The other wall 38 of the L-shaped gate 16 is seen to be equipped with a bumper of wear-strip 39 (see FIG. 1) for engagement with the feed roll 15.

The mechanism now to be described is that employed for disengaging a given gate from the maincontrol shaft 23. This is done so as to change the width of the pattern of spread material. The width may be varied by closing interior or exterior gates, as the case may be. For this purpose, the linkage 30 is changed from the position so designated in FIG. 1 to its alternative position designated 30a in FIG. 1. This can be better appreciated from a consideration of FIG. 4 wherein thelinkage 30a (adjacent the right-hand portion of the view) is positioned so that movement of the main control shaft 23 is ineffective to change the position of its associate gate .16. Briefly, this stems from the fact that the center of the ball joint of the tie-rod 19 is on the center of the eccentric bearing 24thus movement of the bearing 24, and with it the main control rod 23, is ineffective to move the tie-rod 19. This can be best appreciated from a consideration of FIGS. 6 and 7.

Referring first to FIG. 6, it will be seen that the linkage 30a shown in solid line positions the ball-joint 40 of the tie-rod 19 on the center line 41 of the eccentric bearing 24the bearing 24 being shown in FIG. 7. The same relationship can be appreciated from FIG. 4, where the rotatable ball-joint 40 is seen to be on the center line 41 of the various eccentric bearings 24. Thus, as the bearing 24 rotates in its race or housing 25 to provide a fragmental orbital movement for the shaft 23,*there is no movement of the associated tie-rod 19. This maintains the associated gate 16 in closed condition. This is the type of action required when the operator of the spreader desires to change the Width of the pattern. All the operator has to do is to walk along the cat-walk 42 provided atthe front end of the hopper and position the various control knobs 43 in one .or the other desired positions.

When the linkages 30 are generally at right angles to the control shaft 23 (the four left-hand linkages 30 seen in FIG. 4), the ball or rotary joints 40 are olf the center line 41 of the eccentric bearings (see FIG. 3). In such a case orbital movement of the control shaft 23 isaccornpanied by a corresponding movement of the tie-rod 19. When, however, the linkages are in the 30a position (the two right-hand showings in FIG. 4), the joints '40 are on the center line 41 so that any orbital movement of the control shaft 23 is ineffective to move the tie-rod 19.

The. transition or transfer of the linkages 30 between the two positions shown in FIG. 4 is accompanied by a toggle action as can be appreciated from FIG. 6. This is produced through the use of a coiled spring 44. The spring 44 extends between a first post 45 (extending upwardly from the collar 29,) and a second post 46 (extend-' ing upwardly from a yoke 47). The yoke 47 constitutes the main element in the linkage-30 or 30a, as the case may be. jection 48 which serves as a means for limiting the movement of the linkage 30 toward the control shaft 23. The yoke 47 also is equipped with a second projection as at 47a for limiting movement toward the shaft 23 in the other direction. In the open position the spring 44 is on one side of the pivot center 49 (see FIG. 6). The pivot center 49 is developed by the pivotal connections between the arms 50 and 51 of the yoke 47 and the arms The yoke 47 also carries a lateral lug or pro- 41 52 and 53 of the collar 29. Thus, the. movement of the linkage 30 from the dotted to the solid line positions shown inFIG. 6 is accompanied by an over center movement, developing theabove-mentioned toggle action.

While in the foregoing specification a detailed description of an embodiment of the invention has been set down for the purpose of illustration, many variations of the details herein given may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a control mechanism for a gate-equipped spreader, a frame equipped with a generally horizontally disposed control shaft, means for moving said shaft through a vertical arc, the plurality of gates on said frame, a plurality of gate operating-linkages operatively associated with said shaft with a single gate operating-linkage being associated with each gate, means coupling one end of each of said linkages to said shaft and for disposing said one end in two positions, one of which is on the center of said are whereby arcuate movement of said shaft is ineffective to operate said linkages when the same are in said one position. v

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said coupling means include a spring-loaded pivot for toggle action in moving said linkage between said two'positions.

3. A spreader comprising, in combination, hopper adapted to be carried by a vehicle for spreading chips and like material, said hopper being equipped with an elongated discharge opening at the bottom thereof, a feed roll journalled in said hopper for discharging material through said opening, a plurality of aligned gates pivotally mounted on said hopper'in juxtaposition relative to said roll and cooperative therewith in closing said opening, a tie-rod for each gate extending upwardly therefrom and having at its upper end a rotatable joint, a main control shaft mounted on said hopper for fragmentary orbital movement, linkage means coupling said joint and shaft for positioning said joint in alternative positions, one of said positions lying on the center of the shaft orbit, a particular vgate,.when its associated joint is in said one position being in contacting position with said roll to close the portion of said opening occupied by said particular gate, the other position of said joint being operative to rigidly couple said tie-rod to said shaft for cooperative arcuate movement therewith, means for moving said shaft in an orbit fragment.

4. The, structure of claim 3 in which said linkage means includes a yoke pivotally coupled to said shaft, spring means interconnecting said yoke and shaft urging said yoke into one of said two positions. and means on said yoke limitingthe movement of said yoke toward said control shaft.

References Cited by theExaminer UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,086,684 4/ 1963 Flaherty 222- 3 12 ABRAHAM o. STONE, Primary Examiner. I. R. OAKS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A CONTROL MECHANISM FOR A GATE-EQUIPPED SPREADER, A FRAME EQUIPPED WITH A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL DISPOSED CONTROL SHAFT, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SHAFT THROUGH A VERTICAL ARC, THE PLURALITY OF GATES ON SAID FRAME, A PLURALITY OF GATE OPERTING-LINKAGES OPERTIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID SHAFT WITH A SINGLE GATE OPERATING-LINKAGE BEING ASSOCIATED WITH EACH GATE, MEANS COUPLING ONE END OF EACH OF SAID LINKAGES TO SAID SHAFT AND FOR DISPOSING SAID ONE END IN TWO POSITIONS, ONE OF WHICH IS ON THE CENTER OF SAID ARC WHEREBY ARCUATE MOVEMENT OF SAID SHAFT IS INEFFECTIVE TO OPERATE SAID LINKAGES WHEN THE SAME ARE IN SAID ONE POSITION. 